My Arms Your Hearse

Opeth | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 18, 1998)
• Original Release Date: August 18, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Century Media
• ASIN: B00000A6JS
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,471 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Prologue

2. April Ethereal

3. When

4. Madrigal

5. The Amen Corner

6. Demon of the Fall

7. Credence

8. Karma

9. Epilogue

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brutal, haunting, and unforgettable., December 21, 2001

By 

Lord Chimp (Monkey World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Arms Your Hearse (Audio CD)

Opeth stands at the vanguard of progressive metal. The band's first two releases, Orchid and Morningrise, were brilliant and challenging progressive albums. The band was defined by its dynamics, which pitted vicious metal & death growls against soft acoustic music. My Arms, Your Hearse, Opeth's third release, is a bit different. It is the band's most musically aggressive album, no doubt. The recording quality is very dense, almost like a din of chaotic fury. Against Opeth's complex songwriting, beautiful sensibilities, and progressive nature, most bands' music sound like the banal, empty persiflage of mere imitators.

My Arms, Your Hearse is a concept album, told through Akerfeldt stunning lyrics, which are full of brilliant imagery and involved poetry. The story is quite enigmatic and probably open to a number of interpretations. It seems to tell the story of a plaintive ghost who watches his beloved deal with the pain of his death. The liner notes pack all the lyrics into a huge block of text, so it's difficult to read. However, it is interesting the way Opeth has put it together. Each song ends with the name of the next song worked into the lyric. For instance, "The Amen Corner" finishes with the line, "The final spark that blew life into me, the demon of the fall." The next track is called "Demon of the Fall." This is an innovative way of forming lyrical "flow." Also, the lyrics for "Epilogue" end with the line, "Telling...of the beauty of its prologue." This means that everything begins all over again. This coheres with the "seasons" theme running through the album. "Prologue" presents the coming of spring. "The Amen Corner" opens with the line "white summer." "Demon of the Fall" enters the autumn term. The song "Karma" speaks of "winter's epilogue" as "the cold season drifts over the land." This puts forth a theme of recurrence to the story, which may suggest that the ghost is trapped in an everlasting cycle from which he can't escape. Those that believe in the paranormal sometimes say a spirit can be trapped in the material world because of something unresolved that happened in life, or something that anchors him there. Just food for thought, I guess. In any case, I think this adds to the brilliance of Opeth's concept. It is seriously rare that an "extreme" metal band provide such interesting lyrical content.

Vocalist Mikael Akerfeldt has improved a great deal. He has abandoned the pseudo-black metal vocals in favor of a deep, menacing growl. His "clean" vocals, however, are used more sparingly. The production also lends an audible echo to his clean singing, which fits well with the "ghost" story. Likewise, the acoustic passages on this album are also shorter than on previous records, providing less foil for the brutally heavy parts. Instead of devoting full passages to acoustic guitars, this album seems to weave them in and out, integrating them into the heavier music. For example, a section in "The Amen Corner" layers heavy riffing with delicately plucked acoustic strings and death vocals. Very cool. There are still many great acoustic sections, though. The last three minutes or so of "When" is all acoustic. The song "Credence" is 4.5 minutes of melodic acoustic guitars and clean vox, and it's a beautiful song.

The final half of this album is pure songwriting brilliance, beginning with "Demon of the Fall" and ending with "Epilogue." "Demon of the Fall" is a slashing bomb of cut-throat guitars and diabolic vocals (distorted with an effect to sound even more evil). "Credence" is stunning, as I mentioned. Akerfeldt's painful vocals harmonies are mesmerizing. "Karma" is sustained by the velocity of thrash-inflected riffage, Martin Lopez's galloping double-kick drums, but you are given room to breathe with an aching acoustic bit. "Epilogue" is absolutely gorgeous beyond words. I literally become paralyzed by heavenly guitar harmony that carries the album to the end. Good God, it's beautiful. That's not to say the rest of the album isn't great...it is. Every track is simply brilliant. However, in my opinion, Opeth saved the best for last. That's good.

In any case, this is definitely Opeth's most sonically violent album. It definitely focuses more on the band's heavy aspect, with music that sometimes resembles a black hurricane of fierceness. Still, the dichotomy of light & shade pervades and seems more accentuated by the album's heavier focus. Since I was initially drawn to Opeth because of their "softer" aspect, this album took some time to grow on me. Now, however, there is no doubt in my mind that it is every bit as good as anything they've ever done. Every Opeth album is brilliant, and My Arms, Your Hearse is no exception. Buy everything that has anything to do with this band.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning progressive-melodic-death metal at its finest!, October 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: My Arms Your Hearse (Audio CD)

Ok, I just want to know why anyone would review this cd and give it less than 5 starts? This is one of the best CDs I have ever heard: musically or lyrically. This album is totaly amazing from start to finish. I am going to agree with the one who wrote the review stating that they were probably inspired by the Edge of Sanity "Crimson" CD. The concept behind My Arms, Your Hearse is strung together, telling a story, but was probably a good idea it was split apart. I love epic songs, especially "Crimson", the longer the better, but My Arms, Your Hearse does not fit as one song, although it all ties together to tell a story.

Mikael Äkerfeldt is an amazing song writer, wait until you all hear Opeth's new album "Still Life" (Releasing in Europe on October 18th), it is phenominal! The story behind My Arms,Your Hearse is just as amazing as the music. It looks as if Mikael is talking about someone who has died and went back to Earth in the form of his sprit. He starts out at his funeral and tries to reach out to his soulmate. IT is just one twisted love story. I haven't spent too long analyzing the lyrics, but what I have grasped just lets me know that Opeth is truely one of the best bands in the 90's.

All I can say is this CD is just pure metal and total energy. Opeth has the ability to capture music like no other band. They are an amazing group with lots of talent. Listen to the drummer on this CD, he is a primary example. Opeth couldn't have done a better job on creating this CD if they spent five more years on it. "When" is perfect, the only song I have ever heard and said "there is not one thing I would change about this song, it is flawless from begining to end." Without a doubt, I reccommend this CD to anyone, and to all of the perfectionists out there who like tons of talent in their music. Opeth is a true inspiration to many musicians, especially me. Buy this album, you won't regret it! Trust me, you can't get any better than this one!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sadness, rage, and longing, November 3, 2002

By 

"krakatau" (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Arms Your Hearse (Audio CD)

Well, what can I say about this album? This is my favorite Opeth release, and I own them all (except for the new one). It's hard to explain exactly *why* I love this album as I do, but I will do my best.

First of all, this is a concept album. Normally, concept albums don't excite me that much, but this one is special. No, the story isn't tremendously elaborate and complicated (although it is elaborate and complex, in its own way), but the story, and the way it's told, is simply beautiful. It's the tale of a man who has died, and over the course of the album, his spirit tries in vain to communicate with his beloved, but instead, he only watches her mourn his death, and eventually fall out of love with him. The lyrics (some of the best ever written) are more or less one long prose poem, and the last word or phrase of each song is the name of the next one - a very ingenuitive method of creating flow. This also plays an interesting part in the songs 'Prologue' and 'Epilogue', whereby a cycle is implied.

And now to the music. Strangely, all of the music on this album sounds very similar to me, almost as if it's all one song. This is probably Opeth's most aggressive album, if not their heaviest (it's between this one and Blackwater Park). This aggressiveness serves to portray a sense of longing and desperation, and if the music wasn't enough to do that, then there's Mikael Åkerfeldt's searing vocals and sorrowful lyrics. He manages to throw every feeling of anger, frustration and sadness possible into his growls and screams; an impressive feat, to be sure. Then-new drummer Martin Lopez tears it up on the drumkit, especially in the songs' many drum fills. He's technical without going overboard, and there's soul in his playing. Also new to the band was bassist Martin Mendez. Mikael Åkerfeldt actually played most of the bass on this album, since most of the album was already written, so I don't know which parts featured Mendez on bass. But all of the basswork on this album is flawless, so I can only give props to both of them. The guitarwork of Mikael Åkerfeldt and Peter Lindgren is simply astounding. On this album, they moved away from the twin-guitar melodies that were so prominent on Opeth's first two albums (Orchid and Morningrise), focusing instead on creating the atmosphere with raging riffage. One need only to listen to 'Demon of the Fall' to hear what I mean.

So far, I've only concentrated on the sonic maelstrom that is so prevalent on this album, but starkly contrasting this are the many quiet acoustic passages and soft clean vocals. Make no mistake, Opeth can create an aural hurricane that can pound you into the ground, but their mellow moments are the stuff of dreams, and they know exactly where to put them. It's something to experience, feeling (for you don't just hear it, you feel it) the music go from roaring to weeping at the drop of a dime. Mikael and Peter are two of the best acoustic guitar players I've ever heard, period; and Mikael's clean vocals drip with despondence and longing.

This album is the reflection of its front cover: obscure, dark, and haunting. You can see a woman, but it is almost just a silhouette; details elude you. You can discern that she is lonely and mourning - but is she really alone?

I don't really know how to wrap this review up, because I could really just go on and on trying to describe how great this music is. The truth is, it can't be described - it can only be experienced. Listen for yourself, and only then will you know the beauty that is Opeth.